Keep It Between the Lines
by kinseyjo
Summary: I'm right here beside you, and you're gonna do fine.  All you gotta do is keep it between the lines... BoothParker fluff [songfic]


A/N: Hi everybody! Here it is, my first foray into the world of Booth and Brennan. This one is actually only a tiny bit B/B, but I loved the fluff of the song I used. You're gonna find out pretty quick that I'm the country girl. Not only that, I love old obscure country music, and this is a great little song by Ricky Van Shelton from the early 1990's, called Keep it Between the Lines. Boothboyscentric. :) Oh and by the way? Rebecca's dead. Sorry – I kinda like Rebecca as a person, but it works better with the song if she's dead. :) Just trust me. Tiny glimpse of B/B at the end.

Disclaimer: Only my overactive imagination is mine. However if DB is looking to be owned… well… I think we could work something out.

--

"Ready, See?" Seeley Booth glanced over at his dad in the passenger seat and swallowed nervously. Nodding his head, he held out his hand for the keys to the 1965 Ford Mustang he and his dad had restored for his first car. "Nervous?" he asked.

Seeley's brown eyes darted in his dad's direction. "Nah. No big deal, right?"

"Right," the elder Booth confirmed, dropping the keys in his son's hand. "You'll do great, Son," he patted Seeley on the shoulder and gave him a winsome grin.

Seeley swallowed hard again. He sure as hell hoped so. He stuck the key in the ignition and stopped, turning to his father again. "Are you sure?" he asked tentatively.

Joe Booth let out a loud guffaw. "C'mon, Seeley. You've been ready for this moment since you begged me to take your training wheels off after you had your bike for three hours. You can do it, Pal. I'm right here. Just, you know. Try to keep it between the lines," he teased his son.

Seeley, usually always ready with a witty comeback, just grimaced and turned back to the task at hand. He turned the key and the silvery blue muscle car roared to life. Shifting into gear, Seeley backed out of the driveway and started down the tree-lined street. Holy shit. He was driving.

_He was sitting beside me in the passenger seat  
As I looked through the windshield at the quiet little street  
He was smiling so proud as he gave me the key  
But inside I knew he was as nervous as me _

_And I said Daddy oh Daddy are you sure I know how  
Are you sure that I'm ready to drive this car now  
He said I'm right here beside you and you're gonna do fine  
All you gotta do is keep it between the lines_

Half an hour later, they were laughing and grinning, walking in the back door to the kitchen. "How'd it go?" Seeley's mom asked from her space at the kitchen table.

"Good. Your son is an excellent driver, Mrs. Booth," Joe grinned, dropping a kiss on his wife's cheek.

"Just that one tiny ding," Seeley agreed with a grin, his brown eyes sparkling.

"What?" Mrs. Booth regarded her husband and son suspiciously.

"Just kidding, Ma," Seeley chided her.

"I didn't think your father would be so smiley if you'd dented Baby Blue," she said with an eye roll.

"Nope. Seeley did real well. I'm proud of my boy," Seeley's father commented, clapping him on the back.

_Cause it's a long narrow road  
Only the Good Lord knows where it leads in the end but you got to begin  
So keep your hands on the wheel believe in the things that are real  
Just take your time and keep it between the lines_

-- Several Years Later --

Seeley glanced down to where Parker was working diligently; coloring in the dinosaur coloring book he'd gotten from his favorite forensic anthropologist, Dr. Bones. Seeley grinned at how much Parker picked up on Tempe's facial expressions when he worked. For two people who shared no blood relation, they sure were similar sometimes. Parker eyed his coloring critically, his little tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth while he tried to stay in the lines. Seeley went back to reading the manuscript of Tempe's latest book, losing himself in the escapades of Kathy and her FBI partner.

A few pages later, he glanced down to his silent son to see how the coloring project was going. Apparently tapping into his cop's kid instinct, Parker felt himself being watched. He glanced over his shoulder at Seeley and smiled. "Do one with me, Daddy," he asked, picking up his book and climbing into Seeley's lap.

"Did you get one picked out, Bub?" Seeley asked.

"Yep. The T-Rex. 'Cuz that's my fave-rit," Parker grinned, a cuter version of the charm smile, what with the two front teeth missing.

"Geez, Park, I don't know the last time I colored. Probably when I was your age," Seeley informed him.

"Wow. That was a long time ago, huh?" Parker asked.

"About a million years ago," Seeley teased him. "Daddy's old, Park. You might have to remind me how this works."

"'S okay, Daddy. Just stay in the lines. That's the hardest part. But I'll be right here to help you, 'kay?"Seeley smiled and kissed the top of Parker's curly mop of hair. "Okay, Parker."

_I was sitting in my chair and sneaking a look at him  
Lying on the floor with his coloring book  
Then he caught me watching and he climbed on my knee  
He said Daddy oh Daddy would you do one with me_

_Then I hugged him so tightly as we turned the page  
Said I haven't done this since I was your age  
He said I'm right here beside you and you're gonna do fine  
Daddy all you gotta do is keep it between the lines_

A few minutes later, when they'd finished the picture and hung it appropriately on the fridge next to a picture of Bones and Parker mugging for the Seeley's camera, Seeley announced it was time for little guys to be in bed. Parker grumbled for a few minutes as six-year-olds are wont to do, but acquiesced as soon as his father promised him a trip to the park the next day, and promised to see if Dr. Bones would come.

"Ready for prayers, Park?" Seeley asked once his son was snuggled into bed.

"Yep."

"Okay, go for it, Bub," Seeley smiled, clasping Parker's tiny hands between his two larger ones.

"Hi, God! Thank you for t'day, with my dad, an' gettin' to hang out an' go to the Nationals game. Thanks for ice cream, an' puppies (I really wanna puppy for my birthday), an' coloring books. An' thanks for my daddy. An' Nana. An' Dr. Bones. And tell my mommy and my pappy hi, and give them a hug for me, an' tell 'em that I love 'em. Amen."

It never failed. Parker's sweet little prayers to the helicopter pilot upstairs always reminded Seeley how grateful he was for the little things in life. Like baseball, and puppies, and coloring books, and his little boy. _An' Dr. Bones_. "Good job, Pal," Seeley stood and bent back down to kiss his son goodnight. He turned back to the bed when he got to the door. "Love you, Parker."

"Love you too, Daddy," Parker replied.

Seeley let himself out, leaving the door open a crack so the light from the hall would shine in. He wandered back to the kitchen and cleaned up the minor mess from their ice cream after dinner and turned the dishwasher on. Shutting off the lights in the living room, he paused only momentarily to check the rest of the scores on ESPN. He clicked the TV off and headed for his own bedroom, changing into a pair of sweats and a tee shirt that spelled out ARMY across the front in bold black letters. Falling into bed, he began thinking, and offering his own prayer to the head G-Man.

_He's getting bigger. Every day. I worry. I worry that I'm going to screw him up. I know Rebecca and I weren't together anymore, but_ shit_ it sure seemed easier when she was around. I've got one thing going for me though – great taste in women. I think I found the only one Parker could ever love as much as Rebecca. Which actually works out pretty damn fantastic, because Bones is the only woman I think _I_ could love as much as Rebecca. It's not easy doing this by myself, and I second guess everything I do. But when he does something that I taught him, and it gets a giggle out of her, I know I'm doing something right. Tell Rebecca and Dad that I love 'em. And tell Beck thanks for the greatest kid a guy could ask for. Amen._

_So we finished the picture and I put him to bed  
Got down on my knees and I bowed my head  
I said Father oh Father I feel so alone  
Are you sure I can raise him with his mommy gone_

Seeley drifted off to sleep shortly after his prayer, dreams of his boy, his old man, and the two women he loved most drifting in and out of his head until morning.

_Then the answer came back so gentle and low  
And words of my daddy from so long ago  
Said I'm right here beside you and you're gonna do fine  
All you gotta do is keep it between the lines_

_So keep your hands on the wheel  
Believe in the things that are real  
Take your time and keep it between the lines  
Just take your time and keep it between the lines  
Just take your time and keep it between the lines_

--

A/N: Good and fluffy, just how I like 'em! How'd I do for my first B/B fic? R&R! XO, Kinsey


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